Griffin imitated Rivers' cocky demeanor while dribbling on the perimeter before waving off an imaginary teammate and driving into the lane to heave a floater about 20 feet over the backboard.

"We all dish it out, and we all take it," Griffin said later, "so it was just his time."

It might have remained just a humorous exchange between teammates had Clippers small forward Matt Barnes not posted footage of Griffin's comedy routine on Instagram. Rivers discovered the video was going viral when teammate Hedo Turkoglu showed it to him on the team bus on the way back to the hotel.

It was a locker room devoid of champagne, commemorative T-shirts or even congratulatory chatter, the Clippers acting as if they had done nothing more than log a late-season victory over one of the worst teams in the NBA.

"It had 10,000 likes already," Rivers recalled. "I was like, 'Jesus. People are going to make this bigger than what it is.' "

Rivers contributed to the escalation by posting a picture on Instagram of Barnes next to photos of look-alike Steve-O, a stuntman and comedian from the "Jackass" television series. Rivers also posted a photo of boxer Canelo Alvarez, the implication being that Alvarez resembled Griffin.

There was a to-be-continued feel to the teasing.

"Right when I came in the locker room today after I posted that," Rivers said, "Matt was looking at me and he goes, 'OK.' ... Me and Blake are at peace, but when you start something like that with Matt, he just doesn't stop."

Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford called the bruised right calf that has sidelined him for more than three weeks "the weirdest" injury of his NBA career but said he was not worried he would miss the rest of the season.

The 15-year veteran told The Times in an interview Thursday his calf was...

Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford called the bruised right calf that has sidelined him for more than three weeks "the weirdest" injury of his NBA career but said he was not worried he would miss the rest of the season.

The 15-year veteran told The Times in an interview Thursday his calf was...

(Ben Bolch)

Rivers said he couldn't believe that many Instagram commenters didn't understand the video was a joke. The clip ends with Griffin hugging his teammate.

"To go at each other like that," Rivers said, "you have to be close enough to feel comfortable doing it."

Rivers said the only reason his moves making fun of Griffin weren’t shown was because Barnes didn’t start recording until Griffin started his routine. Griffin joked that the video wasn’t shown was because Rivers’ parody wasn’t very good.

Rivers said he might ask Barnes to record his Griffin impression the next time the Clippers practice. That is, of course, if Barnes has forgiven him.

Turtle time

Rivers and Barnes did collaborate on a different type of filming. They were among a handful of Clippers players who participated in a basketball scene to be included in the next "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie.

Backup guard Nate Robinson remained with the Clippers but could not attend the game against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center because he was no longer under contract. He watched the game from the team hotel and was scheduled to travel to Boston with the Clippers.

The team is monitoring Robinson's sore left knee before deciding whether to sign him for the rest of the season after his second 10-day contract expired Thursday.